What breeds is Abby? Does she have a double coat with a thick under coat, or just a short single coat? If she has a double coat your trainer is correct. Plus if you shave a double coat it takes forever to grow back and never comes back in properly.

yeah the fluff is her undercoat. I wouldn't shave it. What I would do is take her to the groomer and have them blow out what they can from her undercoat, and thin the coat out. If you shave her, the coat doesn't come back in right. She may end up looking like a giant walking brillo pad!

Agree with Lizzie. We use a Furminator or rake style brush on the boys every other day or so, feed them grain-free, and bathe with the Furminator shampoos and it makes a HUGE difference with their coats. Much healthier and cooler for them in the summer.

I made the mistake of shaving Duchess the first summer she was with us and I have regretted it ever since. I feel like her coat never quite grew back the same. Not to mention she seemed miserable when she was shaved, almost like she felt naked without her fur. I will never shave again. The only thing I have the groomer do when she gets groomed, is to have them trim her backside extra tight. That seems to be the problem area for her. That fur back there seems to grow like a weed. I also have them even out her tail, the fur on the underside of her front paws and they cut the fur on the pads. My suggestion would be not to shave Abby.

If the dog is laying in the sun, the coat protects her from the heat. However, if your dog is a working dog, the double coat reflects the heat back to the dog and cooks the core temperature as the core temperature rises, and the heat cant escape. Dogs have very poor cooling systems. They sweat through paws, they pant, and the belly offers radiant cooling.

If a dog is working on hot pavement, and for instance a tracking dog is not panting while processing scent on a track, so they arent cooling themselves that way, and picking up pavement heat through their paws, they can get in trouble very quickly. When Tuck heat exhausted during a search last summer, the first thing the vets did was shave his coat once he dried from his tepid water bath.

His working ability really increased once his coat was removed. He looked like heck.

I would think removing the undercoat would do more good to cool a dog than shaving it unless you took the coat down to the skin. Shaving seems like the dog would have a layer of felt on the skin. Stripping undercoat seems like the dog would be wearing a loosely woven linen shirt.

Yesterday a Springer Spaniel and a Cocker Spaniel came into my grooming shop. The owner wanted them BOTH to be SHAVED! I was like NO WAY, these dogs have undercoats. I agree with everyone that no dog with an undercoat should be shaved! The dogs were sent home with long beautiful coats, smelling fresh and clean. I am glad to see another groomer on here thinks the same thing as I. NO dog with an undercoat should be shaved- no breed execptions, right!